PlainHazard

Georgia drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 154 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 5,192 drought records in Georgia from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 206 a year since 2000. The costliest was the September 1, 2007 drought ($490 million in 2025 dollars). Georgia ranks 4th of 51 states and territories by count and 5th of 50 per square mile.

Drought in Georgia, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
5,1921996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
206average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$1.1Bas filed
Busiest year
2000669 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in Georgia?

Georgia averages about 206 drought records a year since 2000, 4th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2000 (669). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Georgia records 900 drought records since 1996, 5th of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Georgia have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Clarke County leads Georgia: 39 days with a drought record since 1996, 326.9 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Jackson County has the most drought records (88 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Clarke County 326.9 (39)
  2. Quitman County 284.3 (43)
  3. Rockdale County 277.3 (36)
  4. Towns County 252.3 (42)
  5. Clayton County 247.0 (36)
  6. Stephens County 246.0 (44)
  7. Barrow County 242.2 (39)
  8. Catoosa County 234.3 (38)
  9. Clay County 230.3 (45)
  10. Dade County 224.0 (39)
  11. Oconee County 211.6 (40)
  12. Glascock County 201.7 (29)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in Georgia?

Georgia's drought records by month. The busiest month is October (679 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 425 · Feb 388 · Mar 333 · Apr 330 · May 487 · Jun 276 · Jul 250 · Aug 401 · Sep 562 · Oct 679 · Nov 554 · Dec 507 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

The costliest drought records in Georgia

Georgia: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2007-09-01 DroughtBaldwin County · forecast zone Baldwin 0 0 $490M
2000-06-01 DroughtSumter County · forecast zone Sumter One storm episode: 94 records in 94 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $400M
2011-09-01 DroughtGordon County · forecast zone Gordon 0 0 $131M
1997-09-01 DroughtBaker County · forecast zone Baker 0 0 $85M
1997-09-01 DroughtWhite County · forecast zone White One storm episode: 12 records in 12 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $3.1M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in Georgia?

Georgia's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: Georgia and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeGeorgiaUnited StatesGeorgia's share
1996-993855,6006.9%
2000s2,19118,57111.8%
2010s1,83731,4415.8%
2020-2677930,1472.6%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in Georgia

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-06-01 DroughtGlynn County · forecast zone Inland Glynn 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtWayne County · forecast zone Wayne 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtPierce County · forecast zone Pierce 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtWare County · forecast zone Southern Ware 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtWare County · forecast zone Northern Ware 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtCharlton County · forecast zone Western Charlton 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtCharlton County · forecast zone Northeastern Charlton 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtJeff Davis County · forecast zone Jeff Davis 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtCamden County · forecast zone Inland Camden 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtCoffee County · forecast zone Coffee 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtClinch County · forecast zone Clinch 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtBrantley County · forecast zone Brantley 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for drought records in Georgia

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in Georgia for drought, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on July 20, 1977.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1977-07-20EM-3044Drought144

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

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